Happy to inform you that I have passed my PMP exam. I scored AT in all areas except closing where i was rated as Target.

I would like to thank Izenbridge (Manish sir, Seema Madam, Jyoti madam) for all their help and support.

My general observations:

Contrary to what people have shared in this forum , i found Exam to be quite easy(i had practiced much tougher questions in izenbridge full length mock and chapter end quizzes), I think the exam was mix of mock #3 and dynamic test of izenbridge and anyone who has sincerely attempted each mock and chapter end quiz will not have any problem clearing the exam.

The exam heavily focuses on PICR, Charter, Risk mitigation and very tricky questions on closing. 2-3 questions on EVM but the exam focuses more on the interpretation of indices instead of asking the candidate to calculate them. Pay special attention to chapters like communication and stakeholder as we tend to take this chapters easy and tend to just skim through them as tons of questions came from them too.

I completed the paper in 3 hrs 12 mins and had plenty of time to review my marked questions.(I did not take any break as the procedure is too cumbersome to take a break in the prometric centre here in Mumbai)

My preparation strategy

I read rita atleast 3 times cover to coverread headfirst 5 times(very interesting way to learn and will make you ready for the exam. The reason i could muster courage to apply for this exam is because of this book)Read PMBOK once.Saket sir's video(2 times) and used to listen to his hangouts while commuting to work.Also read all blogs of PMP written on the izenbridge site.

I think anyone who is starting their preparation can rather read headfirst as their first book and then move to tougher ones like PMBOk and RITA.

I gave all chapter end quizzes of Rita(score was 72% average), chapter end quiz of head first(average score 80%), izenbridge chapter end test(average score 75%). I know manish sir is not a big fan of chapter end mocks but i found it to be very useful

I also gave below mocks and below are my scores:

Head first mock- 151Izenbridge mock 1 - 108Izenbridge mock 2 - 154Izenbridge mock 3 - 148Izenbridge mock 4 - 156Izenbridge mock 5 - 168Scordo-78% average(all 18 tests each one having 50-51 questions). In all I guess I must have solved around 2700 questions over the period of 4 months

I analyzed each mock for 4 hrs(2hrs for right questions and 2hrs for wrong questions) found my gaps and then worked on it. I asked every question i dint understand on forum(I am sure Manish must have cursed me many times as I remember asking him about evaluation of CR's at least 3-4 times and he very patiently answered all my queries every time without getting angry )

I think participating in forum has definitely helped me a lot. I also met a great Study partner(Sindhu) here on izenbridge where i used to do a hangout session everyday for 30mins to 1hr with her and where we used to discuss our weak areas. Manish sir is very helpful and very responsive on forum(do watch his Procurement management in real world video available on YT, all my doubts were cleared thanks to his excellent presentation on the dreaded procurement management)

Finally its all about taking leap of faith and trust yourself that everything will turn out to be OK

EXAM day

I was very nervous before the test as most of peers in izenbridge and in office were scoring 85 to 90% consistently in the mocks and when i used to talk to them and see their posts, I was amazed at the clarity of the concepts they had,however i was committed to give the exam this December come what may (as i mentioned leap of faith )The first 10 mins i was not able to concentrate as everything was new and chairs were little uncomfortable so i just closed my eyes for a minute took few deep breath's, calmed and assured myself that everything will be OK and got my superman mode on and nailed the exam.

As shown in my records above i never scored above 84 % in my mocks however still cleared the exam easily. it's all about how you are able to keep your wits about you on the final day( sample this : I used to take breaks in my mocks at home but in exam I did not take any breaks ) and attempt each question with equanimity.

Conclusion

Once again a big thank you to izenbrigde team, my partner in crime(Sindhu). I would also like to thank Markus(Admin of I want to be PMP group) who introduced me to headfirst book and izenbridge through his study plan.

I started my tryst with PMP sometime in July 2015 joined Simplilearn to get certified. The training was good however due to work pressure and financial issues, I dropped the idea. In the meanwhile i ensured that i save atleast 4k every month for PMP exam. I kept procrastinating every now and then for some reason or other ; however gave my utmost dedication to the exam from Aug 1 2017 to finish this course.(So i think an effort for 4-5 months should be enough)

I hope you have read a prep book apart from PMBOK. in HR pmbok doesnt cover much and hence you need to refer Rita M or Headfirst book.

I scored very poorly on KA test however your real test is full length mock you need to take every week to develop that mental endurance to sit through those 4hrs on the D day. You already know my scores in my mocks and still i passed

I gave each and every mock at the same time i booked the slot of real exam to get acclimatized to the conditions.

i was confident what I did mention in last clarification session that I would not see you any more on those sessions...

Congratulations, well deserved.!!

Yes sir thanks for your vote of confidence. I think we can connect over the phone so that i can let you know few other things with respect to exam which you can use to discuss with other participants. I am sure it will help them

i was confident what I did mention in last clarification session that I would not see you any more on those sessions...

Congratulations, well deserved.!!

Yes sir thanks for your vote of confidence. I think we can connect over the phone so that i can let you know few other things with respect to exam which you can use to discuss with other participants. I am sure it will help them

i was confident what I did mention in last clarification session that I would not see you any more on those sessions...

Congratulations, well deserved.!!

Yes sir thanks for your vote of confidence. I think we can connect over the phone so that i can let you know few other things with respect to exam which you can use to discuss with other participants. I am sure it will help them

How were the ITTO questions on the exam.. I heard from couple of people who passed the exam recently that there were NO ITTO questions.. What was your experience?

Thanks!Rohini.

Hi Rohini,

Thanks. There were couple of questions but they were not straightforward. a situation was described and you were asked to pick from the options. I never memorized any ITTO and cleared with Above target in all areas(except closing) where i scored Target.

So i think you should not worry much about ITTO's however do visualize why each input and tool is used. Pay special attention to initiating and closing process groups(all iott, what exactly is charter, what happens in close procurement) and ensure you score heavily as around 40 questions will come from those areas.

I need to visualize ITTO to answer questions. So depending on how clear your concepts are you can nail it. If you get an intertwined question are you able to break them into pieces and find out the what went wrong here or what needs to be done. Then you are good to go.